The Stockholm Child
by XionTheBlackRose
Summary: After falling into the Underground, what's seen as a kind act from Toriel quickly turns into something more sinister when she won't let Frisk leave. With promises of death should the child ever leave, and the manipulation of the circumstances of Frisk's safety, Toriel keeps the child in her home until her methods turn violent when the child does try to leave her.
1. Welcome Home, My Child

**Welcome Home, My Child**

I sit up in a bed of golden flowers. I dust the petals off me as I stand before staring up at the hole in the ceiling high above. I must have tripped and fell, my body aches but it's nothing too serious. You'd think a fall like that would kill a person. I shrug and walk down the path in the dark. I pass an archway and I see a lone golden flower before me. I kneel down and reach out to touch it when it suddenly opens eyes and smiles with a face I didn't know it had just a moment before.

I gasp softly and pull my hand back a little as the creature talks to me in a young boy's voice, "Howdy! I'm Flowey, Flowey the.. Flower! Golly, you must be new here, huh?"

I smile and nod and he continues, "Well, someone should teach you how things work around here."

He winks at me and I giggle softly. He continues talking, "I guess little old me will have to do!"

My eyes widen and I tilt my head curiously as a bunch of little white pellets of energy appear above Flowey.

"Right now, you're weak, and down here you'll need _love_. Everyone wants _love_ , right? You can gain _love_ by catching 'friendliness pellets' from various monsters down here. I'll share some _love_ with you, so go ahead, catch these. Just reach out and touch them." he explains.

The friendliness pellets come towards me and I reach to touch them and then I'm thrown to the ground as they hit me. I groan, staring at Flowey in confusion, "That.. Hurt.."

Flowey suddenly laughs like a basic villain in the late night t.v. I'm not supposed to watch. His face twists into a sinister grin, "You idiot! Did you think I'd pass up the opportunity for such an easy kill?! In this world, it's kill or be killed! Now _die!_ "

His mean pellets form around me and slowly close in as he continues laughing like a crazy person. Suddenly a blast of fire hits the flower and his pellets disappear as he gets blown away. A large humanoid goat monster in a long purple dress hurries over to me and her voice is soft as she talks, "Oh my, small one, are you all right? Such a horrible creature, harming such an innocent child."

She holds her hand out to me, smiling softly, "Come now, you'll be safe with me."

I stare at her for a moment before taking her hand slowly. A flower did just try to kill me, what's to say this goat woman won't? She gently pulls me to my feet and she sprinkles a green powder over me. The pain I felt suddenly disappears and she holds my hand as she leads me into a new room. _I guess she won't_. This new room is bathed in torchlight as torches are hung along the purple walls. The path ahead of us leads to a double set of stairs, which both leads into a doorway with a weird crest over the archway.

As we walk, the goat woman looks back at me, "My name is Toriel. I am the caretaker of these Ruins."

"Where am I?" I ask.

We pass the doorway and come into a new corridor bathed in torchlight. She releases my hand as we get to the door and there are some switches on the floor and one on the wall by the door. She hits the switches as she speaks, "You're in what we call the Underground. This is the Ruins, what's left of where we all lived at once. Not many monsters live here anymore, but do not be afraid. I'll protect you from the monsters that do live here."

She leads me through the torch-lit Ruins while explaining some puzzles to me. They seem simple enough, even though she says they're dangerous. We come towards a bridge made of spikes and a frog monster suddenly jumps on me. I yelp as I fall down under its weight. Toriel glares at it and it croaks before running off. She helps me back up, "You weren't hurt, were you?"

I shake my head and she smiles, taking my hand as we come to the spike bridge. She looks back at me again, "This is a little dangerous, so just follow where I step."

She leads me carefully across the bridge and we continue down the path. There seems to be only one path to follow through the Ruins. We go deeper into the Ruins and she continues to show me how to solve puzzles until we come to an intersection littered with leaves. We turn left to a large dead tree, dried leaves lay at its base. How could a tree even grow down here with no sunlight? That patch of flowers I woke up in had sunlight shining down, and rain probably came down, too, so that makes sense, but how can a tree grow?

"How did that tree grow?" I ask.

Toriel smiles at me, "Magic."

I frown lightly and she leads me to a cute little house with pretty red leaves littering the front of the house. We go inside and it's a pretty honor color on the walls and the floor. It smells like cinnamon. Toriel takes me to the hallway to the right and we stop in front of a door. She releases my hand and pats my head, "Welcome home, my child. This is your room. Why don't you get some sleep while I clean things up a bit."

"Okay," I smile and go into the room. I close the door behind me and look around. The room is painted a rusty red color and it looks like someone else might have lived here once. At the foot of the bed is a box of shoes of different sizes. I jump onto the bed and sneeze as dust puffs up around me. I get off the bed continue looking around there's a box of toys in front of the dresser but none of them look very interesting.

I open the dresser and there's a few different outfits in different sizes. I close the dresser and walk over to the small table the lamp sits on. I switch the lamp on and off a few times, at least that still works. It's kind of cozy in here, could use a good dusting, though. I go back to the bed and take off my boots.

I put the boots in the shoe box then pull the cover, pillow, and sheet off the bed. I thoroughly shake out all the dust before making the bed again. I then go turn off the light before climbing into bed. I snuggle up under the cover and close my eyes. It's warm and cozy, and I can still smell cinnamon. Before I fall asleep almost instantly.


	2. An Obedient Child Is A Happy Child

**An Obedient Child Is A Happy Child**

When I wake up, I see a piece of pie on a plate with a fork sitting on the floor. I yawn and get up. I get out of bed and pick up the plate. I smile and start eating the pie, it's cinnamon, my favorite. After I finish my pie, I leave the room. I turn and walk down the hallway, curiosity getting the better of me. There's a few funny looking plants in pots along the wall, and two doors, then a mirror at the end of the hall. I stop at the first door and try to open it but it's locked. There's a sign on the door, "Room Under Renovation."

I continue down the hall and the next door opens so I go in. _This must be Toriel's room._ It's painted a soft blue and there's a huge bed in the corner, a cactus by the door, and a desk on the other side of the door, to the left. I go to the desk and there's an open book with a circled passage, and a picture.

I pick up the picture, it's of Toriel, a small goat humanoid monster child holding flowers, a child with short, dark hair holding flowers over their face, and a person I can't see because the rest of the picture is ripped away. I set it down and inspect the open book.I tilt my head and read the passage. I smile, _It's a dumb skeleton pun._

I go to the dresser in the far right corner and poke around. Everything seems to be normal. I shrug and leave the room, closing the door behind me. I go past and stand in front of the mirror. I'm kind of dirty and there's still flower petals in my hair. I smile at my reflection and it smiles back. I giggle, making silly faces into the mirror and waving my arms around. I chuckle, "Still just me."

I shake my head and turn away, walking back through the hallway. I leave the hall and I'm standing by the front door again. I tilt my head at the stairs leading into what I assume is Toriel's basement. I'll check that out later, I want to check out the rest of the house first. I walk over to the bookshelf by the stairs and take a book out, turning the old dusty thing around in my hands. I open it but I can't read the writing inside, I don't think it's English.

I put it back and go into the next room. Instantly, I see Toriel sitting in a chair by the fireplace. She looks up, taking off a pair of glasses as she smiles at me, "Awake already? Did you get the pie I left for you?"

I nod, looking around, "It was yummy. Cinnamon is my favorite."

"I find it's most humans'." she says.

I look at her, "What?"

"Nothing," she smiles, "Would you like to hear about this book I'm reading?"

I shrug, walking over to her, "Sure."

"Okay, it's called A Thousand and One Uses For Snails," she says.

"Actually, never mind," I giggle, "Snails are gross."

She laughs softly, "Yes, I suppose some would think they are. Well, feel free to roam about the house, just don't go in the basement. It's drafty down there and you could get sick."

Oh, now I really have to see what's down there. I smile, "Okay Miss Toriel."

"You can.. Call me Mom if you'd like." she says.

"Um.." I blink slowly, "Okay.."

I shrug and go into the kitchen. I lick my lips as I see the huge cinnamon pie on the counter. I go over to the counter and try to pick up the pie, but Toriel comes up behind me, "That's much too hot, I don't want you to get burned. If you're hungry, I can make you something else."

I turn to her and grin sheepishly, "Sorry, I just wanted some more pie. I'm not hungry, I think I'll just go play in my room for a little bit."

She smiles back, "I am here if you need me, my child."

I nod and walk past her. I keep walking until I get to the stairs I'm not supposed to go down. I shrug and go down the stairs. They lead into a long dark hallway and I take a few steps before my arm is suddenly grabbed from behind. I spin around and Toriel's the one holding onto me. She looks annoyed, "Child, I told you not to come down here. You could get sick. Please stay upstairs."

She leads me back upstairs and let's go of me as she returns to the room with the fireplace. I run down the stairs again, running down the dark hallway. A moment later she grabs my arm roughly. I look back at her and she's angry, "Please do not blatantly disobey me. I told you to stay upstairs, so please do that. You can play in your room, or out in the yard, but _do not_ play down here."

She takes me back upstairs then goes back to the room with the fireplace again. I frown, staring at the stairs. I _really_ want to know what's down there. _How does she know I'm going down there so quickly?_ I trill my fingers along the rail as I continue to stare down the stairs. I'm startled when Toriel comes up to me, "Please go play elsewhere, small one."

I quickly run outside. I cross my arms and kick at the leaves, _Does she just check the stairs regularly? Why would she do that, though? What is she hiding down there?_ I go back inside, "Toriel?"

She comes over to me from the hallway to the right, smiling, "Yes, my child?"

"Um.. That room you gave me, it looks like other kids have stayed here." I stare up at her, "Where did they go?"

She sighs, her smile falling, "Those children.. They left me, went further into the Underground and they were killed by monsters. I'm the only monster you can trust down here, child."

She pets my hair, dusting the remaining petals from my hair, "You see I only want to keep you safe, don't you? That's why you have to listen to me. I can keep you safe, none of the monsters in the Ruins come this close to my home, you'll be very safe here. I can take care of you, I can teach you everything you'll need to know. You'll be happy here."


	3. Growing Disobedience

**Growing Disobedience**

"Come inside, my child!" Toriel calls from the doorway, "I have dinner ready!"

I run over, smiling, "Great, what's for dinner?"

She takes my hand, leading me to the dinning room/fireplace room and we sit at the table. There's a burger on my plate. I eat it quickly, "Yummy, Miss Toriel!"

"I'm glad you like it," she smiles, "I got it from a recipe book I found a long time ago."

I nod and finish the burger, "Can I go play now?"

She giggles softly, "Of course. Don't wander too far from home now, child."

I nod again and run out of the house. I run over to the tree at the edge of Toriel's yard and sit down among the leaves. I grab a handful and crumble them, throwing them up and watching them fall back down. _I'm so easily amused_ , I laugh. I whistle, looking around. It's kind of boring here.

That's good, though. Right? Toriel said there are monsters in the Ruins but they won't go near the house. Boring means safe, then. If I wander, I might be attacked by monsters, like that flower. I don't want to get hurt. I lean against the tree and close my eyes, humming softly to myself a tune I didn't know I knew.

"H-hello..? Is.. Someone there..?"

I open my eyes at the sound of this new voice. I look around, but I can't see anyone. I tilt my head and call back, "Hello? If you can hear me, come out where I can see you."

Suddenly a being appears out of nowhere right in front of me. It looks like a person in a sheet like some kids dress up for Halloween, but this guy has these big headphones on. He looks sad so I smile, "Hi. I'm Frisk, what's your name?"

"Napstablook.." he replies softly, looking away from me.

"Are you a monster?" I ask.

He looks back at me, "Are you?"

I giggle, "No, I'm a human."

He smiles lightly, "A human? That's, uh.. Nifty."

"Are you a monster?" I ask again.

He nods, "I'm a ghost.."

"You look silly for a ghost," I giggle.

He looks down and heaves a heavy sigh, "I know.. I'll.. Go now.."

He turns away and floats off and I stand quickly, calling after him, "Hey! Wait, I didn't mean to upset you! Come back, Napstablook!"

I run off down the pathway after the quickly retreating ghost. Before I know it, I'm lost in the Ruins. I look around, walking along the path slowly, wearily, "Napstablook..? Where did you go..?"

I sigh and keep walking. I'm all confused, I don't know where I am or how to get back to Toriel's house. She'll be mad at me, she told me to stay in the yard. Some leaves crackle behind me and I spin around, calling out, "Hello?!"

I don't see anyone at first, and then I see something peek around a corner at me. A little creature half my size with a white sheet ghost-like body with two thin legs, two thin arms and antenna with small wings comes out of hiding and just stares at me. It looks terrified. I smile softly, "Hi. My name is-"

It yelps and flies away as something behind me suddenly slams into me, knocking me down. I turn around and I'm surrounded by large frog-like creatures. They all stare down at me and then these small fly-like creatures materialize out of nowhere from all of them and shoot at me. I roll around, swatting at them. I'm too closely surrounded, and with the flies attacking me, I can't get up.

The flies are biting me and my body starts to feel very heavy. I'm getting sleepy. I curl into a ball, covering my face with my arms. I weakly swat at the flies, but there's nothing I can do to stop them. I'm so tired now. I just.. Want to sleep. When I wake up, I'll be back home, snuggled in my favorite Pokemon blanket, watching anime with my older brother. Everything will be fine.. When I wake up..

"Unhand my child this instant you miserable creatures!"

There's suddenly a blast of heat, then it fades as quickly as it had come. The frog monsters all croak and runs off, taking the flies with them. I uncover my face and I can barely see the bottom of Toriel's dress coming towards me. She lifts me into her arms and I'm surprised that she looks worried, "Are you hurt, my child?"

"Sleepy.." I mumble.

The green magic washes over me and the sleepy feeling goes away. Toriel smiles down at me, "Do you feel better now?"

I nod, clinging to her, "Thanks."

She turns and walks back the way she came. After a moment, she frowns, "What were you doing exploring the Ruins, sweet child? I told you, monsters will attack you if you're alone. What if I hadn't found you in time?"

I bury my face in her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Miss Toriel.. I was looking for someone.."

She sighs, "I told you, call me Mom.. I want you to stay in the house for a few days, okay? To make sure you're not too badly hurt. Stay where I can see you from now on."

I nod and remain silent as she carries me back to her home. She takes me to my room and she lays me down, pulling the cover over me, "Rest well, my child. I'll see you in the morning."

I nod and she kisses my head before shutting the light off and leaving the room. She leaves the door slightly cracked, letting some light in to illuminate the darkness. I sigh and sit up, _I guess I'm kind of grounded for running off by myself. I didn't even get to find Napstablook, either. That sucks, Toriel's real nice, but I'm bored and lonely playing alone all the time._ Napstablook's the only monster that hasn't attacked me besides Toriel, I was hoping we could be friends. If I see him again, I'll apologize for hurting his feelings.

After awhile of just sitting in bed, I get out of bed and sneak from the room as quietly as I can. All the lights are off, Toriel must be sleeping. I sneak downstairs and follow the basement corridor to a lone room with a large set of double doors. I tilt my head and walk up to the doors. I push on them, but they won't open. I don't see any handles on them, but there's a small keyhole in each door.

Toriel must keep them locked for some reason. The doors are cold, and cold air blows in from the cracks in the door. There's no way to open them, so I shrug, turning back the way I came. I stop before I even leave the room when I hear a knock at the doors. I turn back, calling out softly, "Who's there..?"


	4. The Unknown Prisoner

**The Unknown Prisoner**

"Hello?" I call softly at the door as I slowly turn back and slowly walk back over to it. I press my hand against the door, "Is someone there..?"

A low voice chuckles from the other side of the door, "you're s'possed to say 'who's there?'"

I tilt my head, smiling softly, "Who's there?"

"ach," he replies.

I giggle softly, "Ach who?"

"oh, bless you." he chuckles.

I giggle, "What's your name?"

"sans," he says, "sans the skeleton."

"It's nice to meet you." I say.

"heh, you're a polite little buddy, aren'tcha?" he chuckles.

"Sure am," I laugh.

"My child!" Toriel yells, running down into the basement. I gasp and back away from the door quickly. I turn to her as she comes up to me, "What are you doing down here?! I told you never to be down here! You should be in bed!"

I stare at her, my mind drawing a blank on what to tell her. She looks so angry and I don't know what to say. I did come down here when she didn't want me to. Without another word, she grabs my arm roughly and drags me back upstairs to my room.

She sits me on the bed and she now just looks exhausted, "Please, my child. Do not disobey me. I give you rules to protect you, not hinder you. Do not go back downstairs, do you understand me? You are to stay in your room for a few days. Do you understand?"

I nod slowly and she sighs, standing. She pats my head, "Sleep well, sweet child."

She turns and walks out of the room. She closes the door behind her and I hear a soft click. I frown and get up, going to the door. I try the handle and the door has been locked from the outside. I stare at the door in confusion and shock. _She_ _actually_ _locked_ _me_ _in_ _my_ _room_.

She really doesn't want me going into the basement. I sigh and go back to the bed. I climb onto the bed and pull the covers up over me. I lie down and pull the covers up a little more. I close my eyes and try to sleep.

I wake up when Toriel opens the door, a plate of pancakes in her hand. She smiles softly, "Good morning, my child."

I sit up, rubbing my eyes, "Uhhh.. Good mornin', Miss Toriel."

She holds out a hand to me, "Come, sit at the table and eat breakfast with me."

I rub my eyes again and nod, climbing out of bed. I follow her to the table and sit across from her. I rub my eyes again and yawn. She smiles softly, "Are you tired, dear?"

I nod slowly, "A lil."

"Maybe tonight you'll remember to stay in your bed when it's time to sleep." she replies.

I nod again, "Sorry.."

She sighs, "I do not mean to reprimand you, child. I only want what is best for you. As you know, it is very dangerous to leave the house without me."

Again, I nod and start eating the food in front of me, "So... Am I going to be locked in my room again?"

An expression I can't read crosses her face and she sighs softly, "I apologize for that. But I will do it again if I must. I have these rules for a reason."

That's kind of unsettling. I frown, "Am I your prisoner?"

"Of course not!" she gasps, "I am so very sorry if you thought you were!"

I smile, "It's okay. Glad I'm not a prisoner. That'd be kind of awkward."

I laugh softly and she tries to smile. I finish eating my breakfast, it's still kind of awkward, like Toriel is keeping something from me. After I finish eating, she sits me on her lap with a book and we read it together. It's in her monster language, called Irionen. She has me try to sound out each word and she tells me what it means in English.

It takes several hours, but I finally finish half of the book. It's about monster history it seems. It talks a lot about King Garon and Prince Asgore. I'm learning Irionen though, so that's cool. Toriel closes the book once we're about halfway through, "We'll read more of that tomorrow."

"Is Prince Asgore real?" I look up at her, "Is this monster history, or a fiction book?"

She smiles lightly, "Prince Asgore is very much real. In fact, he is King Asgore now. I know this book seems like a fairy tale of sorts, but it's sort of a biography, written by Asgore's elder brother, Ayelmor. He was a young Prince, like Asgore. He was killed by humans a few months before the war started. Ayelmor wrote a lot of these biographies about Asgore. He always said Asgore would be a great king someday."

"Did he become a great king?" I ask.

She hugs me a little closer, "For awhile, yes. That is, until his children died."

My eyes widen, "What happened?"

She shakes her head, "Perhaps that is a story for another time."

"Oh, come on! You can't say something like that and then not tell me the whole story!" I whine.

She chuckles softly, "Why don't you go play in the yard? I'll have lunch made shortly. Please do not leave the yard."

I nod and jump off her lap before putting my shoes on at the door and running outside. I go to the dead tree at the end of the yard and sit down like I had before. I start humming that same tune I don't know where I heard it from. I want to see if Napstablook will show up again. I want to apologize to him, and see if he knows what happened to King Asgore's children.

So I sit and wait, humming to myself as I tap my palms against my knees continuously in a rhythm matching my humming. I close my eyes and continue this until I hear the familiar, "Hello..? Oh, it's you again.."

I smile.


End file.
